A former Conservative councillor has been suspended from UKIP after continental remarks linking flooding and gay marriage (BBC News) and what he seems to see as the UK turning away from being a “Christian nation”.

I don’t believe the UK is or has been (at least in recent times, but probably not ever) a true Christian nation, but if Cllr Silvester wants the UK to become a Christian nation, neither the Conservatives nor UKIP seem like a good fit.

Deuteronomy 10:17-19 says:

“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.” (NLT)

It doesn’t really fit with the anti-immigration stance of UKIP, or the Conservatives’ pledge to cap immigration and recent announcement that immigrants will no longer be eligible for housing benefit.

Proverbs 14:31 reads:

Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but helping the poor honours him. (NLT)

“Oppressing the poor” seems to me a good description of the benefits changes this government has brought in, and some of UKIP’s policies, such as:

Make real and rigorous cuts in foreign aid (despite us already not meeting internationally agreed targets, and the aid budget being tiny)

Ensure that benefits are only available for those who have lived here for over 5 years. (because how could things possibly go wrong less than five years after arriving in a new country unless you deliberately planned for then to?)

Local councils are to enroll unemployed welfare claimants onto community schemes or retraining workfare programmes. (So that they don’t waste time looking for jobs or relevant training)

Comment?

Notes, thoughts, opinions here are mine, and are not intended to, and so may not, reflect those of my employer, or any organisation mentioned. In the case of sermon notes, they may not accurately reflect the words or intent of the speaker listed, or my own - they are notes taken at the time based on what I took in and have not usually been edited since.